TWiS 230: Living on Lava Worlds - Atmospheres on Lava-Covered Exoplanets

Think you're having a hot summer? Try living on 55 Cancri-e, a super-Earth with daytime temperatures above 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of these super-Earths orbit frighteningly close to their host stars and have long since had their atmospheres scraped away, leaving them baked, parched rocks. But some, like 55 Cancri, still have dense envelopes of air. How is that possible, when the planet is 20 times closer to its star than our own planet Mercury? Dr. Laura Schaefer explains how molten lava worlds defy the odds. Plus: Starship update, the first orbital data centers, and a new year on Mars.

Headlines:

SpaceX's Starship Achieves First Full Orbital Flight With Satellite Deployments

Google and Planet Labs Launch AI Data Center Satellite

Multiple SpaceX Launches Within Hours Mark a New Operational Standard

Cowboy Space Debuts Power-Beaming AI Data Center in Orbit

Mars Celebrates a New Year on Its Extended Journey Around the Sun

NASA Anniversary and Notable Space Birthdays Noted

Main Topic: Living on Lava Worlds—Atmospheres, Extreme Planets, and the Search for Life

Early Exoplanet Detection Methods and Evolution of Exoplanet Surveys

Cosmic Shoreline Concept: How Gravity and Stellar Radiation Shape Planetary Atmospheres

Airless Valleys, Sandbars, and Other New Categories for Rocky Exoplanets